Nuffield Foundation awards £2.4m grant to National Institute of Teaching-led project to revolutionise teacher development

The Nuffield Foundation has awarded £2.4m to the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) for an innovative five-year project targeting teacher preparation and development.  

Teaching Improvement through Data and Evaluation (TIDE) will bring together a wealth of strictly anonymised data from the NIoT’s founding trusts to explore how or what approaches to teacher training, classroom practice and CPD impact pupil outcomes. A project of this kind has never been tried before in the UK at this scale.  

TIDE will be led by the NIoT’s Executive Director of Research Dr Calum Davey, supported by teacher development experts Prof John Jerrim (UCL IoE), Dr Sam Sims (UCL IoE), Prof Becky Allen, and Prof Rob  Coe (Evidence Based Education), as well as data experts at Oxford University’s Bennett Institute and experts in AI at Faculty AI.  

This work will also be guided by an Expert Advisory Group comprising teacher development programme leaders, current teachers, and sector stakeholders to ensure all research practices and investigations align with the priorities of frontline practitioners.  

TIDE has three phases.  

• First, the team will use anonymised data to estimate the statistical impact of teachers on the attainment of their pupils.  

• Second, the team will explore the factors that contribute to teacher impact, such as training pathways, teacher-class assignment practices, and in-school teacher development strategies. 

• Finally, TIDE will work with teacher development leads in partner schools to co-create and pilot improvements to teacher development strategies, such as mentoring or observation practices.  

TIDE will share the findings with the sector using a mix of papers, seminars, open-access datasets, and schools-facing dissemination. All research methods and data handling will follow the most stringent of ethical research standards.  

Dr Calum Davey said:

“This project aims to help to ensure that the time teachers and school leaders  devote to their professional learning is of maximum benefit to children.” 

Dr Emily Tanner, Programme Head at the Nuffield Foundation said:

"Teachers are fundamental to children's outcomes. The Nuffield Foundation is delighted to support this research programme to  strengthen the evidence on how best to support the profession and to integrate this learning into  practice."